538 



AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



Each of these groups seems to me favorable 

 for such work. The students of Columbia 

 College are measured, tested and observed in 

 our laboratory; we are able to follow their 

 academic courses and their careers in after 

 life. The lives of the most eminent men of 

 history are to a certain extent public prop- 

 erty, open to statistical investigation and 

 psychological analysis. A thousand scientific 

 men in the United States will doubtless be 

 willing to assist in furnishing the material 

 needed, which is in any case accessible from 

 other sources. 



The accompanying table, which with most 

 of the data to be discussed refers approxi- 

 mately to January 1, 1903, shows how Amer- 

 ican men of science are distributed among the 

 principal sciences by various agencies.* There 

 are in the table certain facts that require 

 allowance, or at least mention. The American 

 Chemical Society and the doctorates conferred 

 in chemistry represent in part professional 

 work in applied science. Under the special 



of computation in connection with this research, 

 I have received a grant of two hundred dollars 

 from the Esther Herrman Research Fund of the 

 Scientific Alliance of New York. 



The distribution among the sciences of those 

 in the " Biographical Directory of American Men 

 of Science" (published this year by The Science 

 Press, New York) differs rather more, than I had 

 expected from this estimate, which was based on 

 the first thousand entries that were written. 

 There are in the "Directory" 4,131 names, of 

 whom 131 are students of philosophy, education, 

 economics and sociology, leaving just 4,000 in the 

 twelve sciences under consideration. They are 

 distributed among the sciences as follows: 

 mathematics, 340; physics, 672; chemistry, 677; 

 astronomy, 160; geology, 444; botany, 401; zool- 

 ogy, 441; physiology, 105; anatomy, 118; pathol- 

 ogy, 357; anthropology, 91; psychology, 194. 

 These figures were not at hand when it was neces- 

 sary to select the thousand men of science for 

 this research. The numbers under physics and 

 pathology are increased by the inclusion under 

 these sciences of engineers and physicians. The 

 chief discrepancy is that there are fewer zoologists 

 than was indicated by the preliminary estimate 

 or by the other data of the table. 



TABLE I. THE NUMBEB OF AMEBICAN MEN OF SCI- 

 ENCE AND THEIB DISTBIBUTION AMONG 

 THE SCIENCES 



SEDUCED TO PER THOUSAND 



Mathematics .... 



Physics 



Chemistry 



Astronomy 



Geology 



Botany 



Zoology 



Physiology 



Anatomy 



Pathology 



Anthropology .... 

 Psychology 



99 

 39 

 506 

 33 

 68 

 45 

 63 

 25 

 36 

 36 

 16 

 34 



32 



170 240 



177 



41 



123 



122 



149 



10 



10 



14 



61 



41 



10 



125 



125 



136 



73 



177 



21 







52 

 31 

 10 



162 



125 



171 



49 



66 



68 



99 



63 



67 



81 



5 



44 



113 



128 



265 



30 



60 



99 



134 



34 



2 



118 



35 



155 



73 



47 



161 



94 



243 



22 



13 



44 



56 



57 



53 



84 



191 



59 



200 



81 



151 



29 



21 



64 



43 



24 



95 



139 



164 



53 



109 



104 



155 



39 



29 



56 



23 



34 



societies there are duplications, as scientific 

 men may belong to more than one society. 

 The American Mathematical Society and the 

 Association of American Anatomists have 

 been rather liberal in the admission of mem- 

 bers. As mathematics and the medical sci- 

 ences are required subjects for large groups 

 of students, there are many teachers, but this 

 has not produced a proportional number of 

 investigators. The membership of the Na- 

 tional Academy represents to a certain extent 

 the interests of the passing scientific genera- 

 tion, the doctorates the interests of the com- 

 ing scientific generation. 



In selecting a group of a thousand scien- 

 tific men, the number in each science was 

 taken roughly proportional to the total num- 



